Contracts & Clauses
by CMemlovr
Summary: "Well then, as your boss, consider this the end of your working week. You're fired, Mackenzie." Oneshot. (I sort of suck at summaries, I'm afraid.)


**September 16th, 2013:**

"_Well then, as your boss, consider this the end of your working week. You're fired, Mackenzie."_

It had been a hellish day in the newsroom– the continued civil war in Syria had just hit red status in breaking news with the information that sarin gas (of course, it had to be _sarin_) had been used against militants, with largely civilian casualties. What's more, talk of American involvement in the so-far solely civil war had reached the newsroom, and that meant one more lead to chase-up before eight o'clock. All day, images of dead children – of innocent bystanders who had the misfortune of being caught up in the attack – had flooded the newsroom. Some steeled themselves against the onslaught better than others – but all were deeply affected by the inhumane actions and consequences that this particular uprising in the Arab spring provoked.

Mac was no exception.

Throughout the morning, Mac had been insufferable. She had obsessed over every little detail. She had hovered like a bothersome insect around the staffers – junior in particular – and she had taken it upon herself to make sure that this broadcast about sarin is especially accurate. What she had forgotten to do was take a moment – to reflect and gather herself – because she didn't want to feel the strain and stress of past memories. She didn't want to think about the possible implications of running this story. And so, she hadn't been herself all day, but instead some super-annoying new Mac who felt the need to be insurmountably irritating in the pursuit of perfection.

Although Will had attempted to maintain his distance from Mac – to allow her this one day of breaking news to be (understandably) a perfectionist – he couldn't help but notice that her usual fiery attitude was somewhat put-on today. She had been underfoot all day – true- but she hadn't been her usual self, and he had begun to grow concerned about her.

That was this morning.

It's now just after the two o'clock rundown and Mac has already brought Jenna to tears with her constant hovering and nit-picking. Besides that, there's also the issue of the actual story – the story that has already evoked a panic attack from Maggie, and an hour of comforting from Jim. The fact is that dead children – no matter where they're from or where they died – will always provoke a strong and visceral reaction. A maternal reaction from some, and a horrified and tribal reaction from others. Unfortunately for Mac, the story had had neither effect – instead, she had been dealing with memories of her time in Islamabad, reliving her stabbing and the flashing of young faces as she was carried past those who were too young but probably destined to die. On top of it all, she also had the gnawing concern of what running another sarin story would do for ACN – what it would do for Will's reputation.

Despite trying his best to ignore Mac's constant hovering and perfectionism, Will hadn't been able to once she'd started to do it _in his office. _

"Was there something you wanted, Mac?" asks Will, frustrated.

"Hm? Oh… no. You know just, you're sure about the facts? It's sarin this time, right?"

"I'm absolutely sure, Mac. We've got the facts right on this one."

"No cock-ups?"

"None. Look, it's going to be just fine."

Despite his assurances, Mac still can't shake the niggling feeling that something's about to go horribly wrong. And so, she continues to linger over the staffers, double-and-triple checking _everything_.

By the time the four o'clock rundown arrives, Will has had _enough. _

"Mac, a word, please," he manages to bite out.

Wordlessly, Mac follows Will into his office, priming herself for what will undoubtedly be a screaming match. Shutting the glass door behind her – to at least give the illusion of privacy – she turns to face Will impatiently, eager to get back to her work.

"What's going on with you, Mac?" demands Will.

"I-nothing's _going on _with me, Will. I'm just a little busy, if you hadn't noticed." She snaps, rather surprised that he isn't questioning her about the story or the fact that Jenna blew the fact check earlier today.

"You're obviously not fine, Mac. Now, you either tell me what's going on and we fix it, or you take the rest of the day."

Flustered and hardly able to believe that Will would pull this shit on her _now _of all times, Mac opens her mouth to reply angrily, "look, I might be a bit more stressed than usual today, and I might be a bit more tetchy as a result, but nothing is wrong with me, Will! You of all people should understand my reluctance – what with the lawsuit against us still being dragged out in court – and you should, I don't know, maybe be able to cut me some fucking slack?!"

For a moment, Will is silent. His eyes find hers, and he can see that she is more than frustrated – she is hiding something from him deliberately. And he can make an educated guess that whatever's been hanging over her all day has something to do with her time embedded in Pakistan. When he'd been ignoring her religiously out of pride, despite the fact that he still loved her, and had been too hurt to realise that she needed him as much as he needed her.

"Mac, take the day. You need a breather, and the control room will be fine without you just this once," concern colours Will's voice, but by now Mac is so indignant that she refuses to acknowledge it.

"Absolutely not, Will. I am not leaving this newsroom until you do - after _our _show tonight!"

"You're not going to take my advice as your husband?"

"You've got to be kidding me, Billy," she scoffs angrily.

"Well then, as your boss, consider this the end of your working week. You're fired, Mackenzie."

Floored, Mac can only stare at Will disbelievingly. A moment of cold silence passes between them, and she's fairly sure that she misheard Will, that he didn't just _fire _her.

"What?" she asks coldly, demanding an apology and a retraction without saying another word.

"You heard me, Mac. You're fired. I still retain that contractual right, and you still return to work next Monday, but for today you have to go home."

"You can't be serious, Will," she says, a deadly tone entering her voice.

"I'm hardly joking, Kenzie. The driver's waiting for you downstairs, and he'll take you home. We can talk about this later."

"I will not have you reprimand me like a child, Billy! But fine, we can discuss this like _adults _at home," her voice becomes lower and more dangerous, "Until then, don't fuck up our show, Will," she growls.

Turning swiftly on her heel, Mac pushes her way through Will's office door, infuriated and unwilling to acknowledge any of the staffers that have gathered in the newsroom, desperately attempting to look busy. Blinking away the tears gathering in the corners of her eyes, Mac jabs the elevator button with pronounced harshness, and leaves the newsroom without a glance back.

In his office, Will sits at his desk debating how wise his choice to exercise seniority was, but deep down he knows two things: first, he doesn't have the time to _be _debating this issue internally, and second, it was the right thing to do. Mac needed the day off to be okay, and so long as that remains true, Will does not care about the consequences he will bear. So, he starts back up on his preparations for tonight, with the news on Syria occupying a spot at the bottom of the A-Block.

Will's seated at his news desk, cup of coffee in front of him and script loading onto the prompter. For all intents and purposes, Will is ready for this broadcast. Except for one major detail that continues to hound him – the absence of Mac's reassuring and steady voice in his ear, chatting up a storm. Instead, he hears Don's cool voice – understanding of the situation because Sloan filled him in – lining up his cues and guests. Just like it was before Mac arrived into his life again. Although the situation makes Will feel uneasy, he knows that what he did was for Mac's own good, and so for now, he pushes her out of his mind completely and continues the show normally.

Meanwhile in the control room, Mac sits silently behind Don, watching the entire broadcast essentially happen without her. She fumes when Will leaves a rebuttal and Don doesn't prompt him – but knows that she probably wouldn't have insisted that hard on that particular argument if she hadn't been feeling so upset with Will currently. Watching Don in her place, she realises that while she and Will make an excellent team; Don is just as capable of a producer in her absence. The thought stirs both sadness and pride in her, and she doesn't want to consider why both emotions have decided to make their presence known.

When the show is wrapped up, Mac slips quietly out of the control room gliding past Will's office before he can see her and shutting herself up in her own. Planning on staying until Will is in his office changing out of his suit so that she can rush back home before he gets there, Mac sits on her couch to wait. Not realising how tired she is, however, she quickly drifts off, and forgets all about trying to beat Will home.

Exhausted and weary, Will arrives home ready for a heated argument with Mac. What he finds instead is an empty apartment. Peering into each of the rooms (and the closets for good measure) Will doesn't find her anywhere. His earlier concern for Mac resurfaces, and before he knows what he's doing, he's calling everybody he knows who might have an inkling of where she is.

He tries Neal first, but has no luck with Mac's whereabouts as all he can definitively say is that she's not at Hang Chew's with the rest of the staff.

Then he calls Charlie, who gives him a chewing out about firing her, but hasn't got the faintest idea about where Mac might be. So, nothing to offer except a sermon, really.

His last resort is Don, who tells him that Mac watched the entire broadcast from the control room, and then slipped out before the closing commercial was announced. His best guess is that she's probably still at the office, brooding. Thanking Don profusely, Will shoves his coat back on and heads back towards the ACN building.

Will doesn't know whether to be frustrated or endeared at the sight of his wife draped across the sofa in her office, clearly deeply asleep. He opts for a bit of both as he reaches for his phone and takes a picture of her, stretched out like a cat across the sofa. Slipping his phone back into his pocket, Will gently pushes open the glass door of her office, careful not to wake her too suddenly. Crouching beside her, he squeezes her shoulder softly, waking her carefully from what appeared to be a fitful slumber. Mac's eyes blink open cautiously, taking in her surroundings slowly whilst religiously avoiding Will's concerned gaze. For a beat, no sound can be heard other than Mac's waking breaths. Breaking the silence, Mac huffs frustrated and mumbles, "You fired me." Her voice breaks on the last word, and she looks down at her still-outstretched legs.

"I did," replies Will unrepentantly, "And I'd do it again in a heartbeat if I thought it would be best for you."

He can tell that he's hurt her, that his reply put the sting right back into his actions earlier that day. He'd been cruel, but he'd felt justified in his cruelty as he'd sent Mac packing for the day _for her own good. _

"Best for me?" Mac scoffs. "I can take care of myself, _Billy." _Her face has reddened slightly, and continues to do so as she wakes up and becomes far more infuriated than she was before. "In fact, _Will, _I have been doing that for six fucking years! Six years, until you decided to stop punishing me! And now it's like we're back to square one, Will, with you flaunting the fact that you can fire me at the end of each week – a part of your contract that you've only got for another four weeks by the way – by _actually firing me!" _ Her voice has reached an indignant and shrill pitch by now, and she's punctuating the end of every remark by taking a clenched fist to her leather sofa.

Will allows her to vent. He allows her to unleash her anger because he knows – as he has known all day – that something else was the catalyst to her outburst, and she needs this. She needs to be able to scream bloody murder if she wants to, because she's been taking too much of the burden lately, and allowing it to weigh on her small shoulders for too long. She needs to let the anger out, so that Will can support her when the other emotions flood her body, slamming her back into a fit of grief and weariness. She will need him, but first, she needs this.

Raising his hands in a pacifying gesture, Will waits until Mac has said all that she needed to say before stating simply, "I fired you. I fired you, and I'm sorry."

"Sorry that you fired me?" she asks disbelievingly.

"No. I'm not sorry for firing you, and I will never be sorry for acting in your best interests. I'm sorry that I didn't find a more tactful means of showing my concern for you, Mac. I'm sorry that I didn't make it clearer to you that I didn't fire you because your work was lacking, or because you'd been hovering all day. I fired you because I needed to see you okay, and working here, today, you weren't."

"I can take care of myself, Will," she spits coldly, the ire and passion now gone from her delivery.

"I know you can," he says calmly, "but every once in a while, it's okay to let your husband do it for you, Kenz."

The red of her cheeks is gone, and her emotions drain from her face – replaced instead with an insurmountable fatigue. Calmly, she swings her legs down from the sofa and turns to look Will in the eye.

"I'm still mad at you," she says, finally.

"That's okay," he chuckles, "but you still have to come home with me."

"I know," she smiles.

And for the first time that day, Will is absolutely certain that Mac will be okay – not because he's going to take care of her, or because of his support, but because it's who she is. A fighter. A strong-willed, irritating woman with the delightful habit of bouncing back from any punch that is thrown at her.

"Let's go home, Mac."

_**Hey guys, I promise I'll have an update on **_**It's Quixotic? _up soon but for now, I had this idea and it wouldn't go away - so I hope you'll enjoy it! If you did, please leave a review ^_^ (I'm also aware that the 16th was a Monday, but I took creative license with the date a bit, I guess...)_**


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